Drabbletalia: A Secret in Java
by Muragaragah
Summary: Berwald & Tino are employed at a software/technology company. An email pops up in Tino's inbox from a certain Swede & he is ever so eager for a distraction from debugging. SuFin AU, real names used.


_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own Hetalia, Himaruya does.~_

_/ Warnings: BL/shounen-ai._

_/ Note: AU in which Sweden and Finland are employed at a technological company as computer programmers. Real names used. There are some technical terms used in here, and there is a translation provided at the bottom of the story for the content of Berwald's email. :)_

* * *

_Chapter Title: Do You Want to Know a Secret?_

The incessant, louder than usual ticking that echoed around the room of individual cubicles drove Tino up the wall. He eyed the tiny digital clock in the lower right-hand corner of his company-distributed computer screen, an exhausted sigh heaving his narrow shoulders. _16:10. _Another fifty minutes and he would be free, for a period of fifteen minutes.

He sat up straighter than he had all day then, stretching and smoothing down the emerald-green polo shirt that made up part of his official uniform. A weather notification popped up on the right side of his screen, changing from a partly cloudy animation to a full sun, beside bold white 20 C. _It must feel so nice outside! One of the first days of the season to be so warm… now I really can't wait for my break._

The colour-coded Courier text that filled the rest of his screen practically glared at him. It would probably scream "fix me, dammit!" if it could've. Tino had been slaving over this particular program the entire day, from the time that he had first perched in his rolling chair at noon and booted up his computer. One of the systems that he managed had been hacked into, so his boss demanded that he go in and strengthen its firewall, restricting certain programs from accessing it and building in an entirely new, sub-firewall.

It was work that would give anyone a headache, after spending a solid four hours sifting through code that by now looked all the same.

His computer beeped then as the icon of a picayune envelope popped up in his taskbar at the bottom of the screen—new email. _Yes! A distraction!_

A small smile upturned Tino's lips as he clicked on the envelope, immediately bringing up his email client. The subject of his newest email (just one this time) stood out from his other, already-perused mail, in bold black Calibri. _Of course the sender is Berwald. He always seems to know when I need a pick-me-up. _The image of the tall, blonde, bespectacled Swede surfaced in his mind as he selected the digital letter: a separate window came into view then, with what looked like a segment of code… but Tino could tell that it wasn't official. It was printed in Arial, and it was obviously shorthanded.

_boolean mySecret = true;_

_double myShiftEnds = 17.00;_

_double yourBreakTime;_

_.println("Hey Tino,");_

_if(yourBreakTime = myShiftEnds) .println("Meet me outside by the old willow tree.");_

_else .println("Text me on my cell phone and meet me outside our favorite bar.");_

_if(("me")) .println(mySecret);_

_.println("From Berwald.");_

"I wonder what this is about…" Tino wondered aloud, under his breath. "He wants me to meet him at seventeen-hundred by the willow. He's lucky my break's at that time." He chuckled faintly, exiting out of the email client.

He glanced at the clock again, _16:20._

The rest of those forty minutes flashed by as Tino immersed himself yet again in bits and pieces of the code that he was supposed to repair. The beginnings of a migraine knocked against his temples as he scribbled down a memo to himself on a sticky note, posting it in the middle of his screen before scooting away from his desk and standing, stretching once more.

It took him less than two minutes to wind his way out of his department and reach the back exit, which led out into a meticulously-manicured garden complete with a dominating weeping willow.

All of the flowers in the garden seemed to glisten with orange rays of an early sunset. Tino traipsed out of the building, inhaling deep and taking his time with reciprocal exhalation, ridding his lungs of stuffy cubicle air. The smile that had started forty minutes ago, after receiving his Swedish friend's email, broke across his heart-shaped face once again as his eyes came to rest on the back of none other than Berwald, who stood with his hands in the pockets of his slacks facing the willow. "Hi, Berwald," Tino called as he paced up to the other man, his tone light and infused with the brightness of his smile.

Berwald turned to face the petite Fin—Tino could never tell if he was happy or not to see him, what with his eyes always slightly narrowed and his mouth pressed into a firm line. The Swede's expression always forced Tino's heart straight into his throat, though in retrospect, the shorter blonde couldn't tell if it was just because it frightened him, or if there was another reason behind his reaction. "H'y, T'no," Berwald replied, the corners of his mouth piquing only _very_ slightly, the image of Tino's illuminated face reflected within aquamarine eyes, "th'nks f'r c'ming."

Tino nodded once, having to tilt his head up to maintain eye contact with the taller man. "No problem! You said you needed to tell me something? You declared it as 'mySecret' in that little snippet of code that you sent me."

Berwald stepped closer to Tino, removing his hands from his pockets with a single nod. "Y'ah. T'no, h'w l'ng h've we kn'wn each oth'r?"

The Fin fell silent for a moment, racking his memories for the mental picture of the first time that he had met Berwald… _Gosh, has it been that long? Since high school? _"It's been a long time… I think we met back in my sophomore year of high school, so that was… seven years ago. Why?" His head cocked to the side unintentionally in question.

"B'cause…" Berwald took another step closer to the other; although Tino thought that he _should_ have questioned Berwald's intention for his somewhat awkward actions, he couldn't bring himself to believe that he was in the way of harm, or anything like that. Berwald was always very gentle with him, in his speech and in the rare embraces that they had shared.

Before Tino could properly react, Berwald wrapped his arms around the other's sinewy midsection, pulling the smaller man directly to him. An unexpected blush dusted Tino's cheeks, but his head came to rest against the flat of Berwald's chest, just over his tattooing heart. "Because…?" Tino prompted, anticipation tingling in his fingertips.

Berwald arched then, his lips hovering right beside Tino's ear, his voice descended in volume to the shade of a whisper, deep timbre humming throughout his chest. "B'cause… ev'r s'nce I met you, T'no, I w'nted to get cl'se to you… but I n'ver did. Unt'l now… if you want th't."

Tino could have sworn that he heard Berwald's voice tremble as he spoke, the words bringing shimmery tears to his lavender eyes. He pulled away from Berwald to look up at him, full in the face, an enigmatic smile played across his mouth… just before his eyes fluttered shut, he leant forward and claimed Berwald's lips, arms locking around the other's neck.

Berwald's eyes bulged in astonishment but quickly closed, falling to half mast: he didn't want to completely shut his eyes in such proximity of the perfection of Tino's face, closer than he had ever been to the diminutive Fin.

They seemed to pull away simultaneously, the corners of Berwald's mouth piqued in a soft, rare smile. Tino uncoiled his arms from around the other's neck to reach up and cup his face, tilting it down some so that they both had complete eye contact. He stared hard into the other's cerulean pools, though his expression was softened considerably by the exuberant smile that he wore. "Berwald, you could have gotten close to me a long time ago. I definitely wouldn't have minded then… nor do I mind now." His breath caught almost inaudibly as rouge filled the apples of his cheeks, the words forming in his mind before transferring to his voice box. "I like you. A lot. A _whoooole_ lot. I don't know if it's love, because I've never been in love, but… I want you to be close to me. And I want… I want to be close to you, too. So… let's do this. Please."

Tino's grin only grew as Berwald's reply met his ears. "O' course, T'no, but I w's s'pposed t' be th' one ask'ng you out."

Berwald actually chuckled; in all the time that Tino had known the outwardly scary Swede, he had _never _heard him laugh, so he couldn't hold back his own, the skin around his eyes crinkling from the intensity of his smile. "Just goes to show you that life has its own way of working out, doesn't it?"

Berwald could only nod, his hand flitting down to grasp Tino's, long fingers lacing through the shorter man's own. "Y'ah… 't really does."

* * *

_So, that translation! (Berwald's email to Tino):_

_Hey Tino,_

_If your break time comes before my shift ends, meet me outside by the old willow tree. Else, text me on my cell phone and meet me outside our favourite bar._

_If you meet with me, I'll tell you my secret._

_From Berwald._


End file.
